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Every week or so I post a new article, review or news items about organic gardening and edible and useful plants. Right through the website I emphasize organic, local (Australian), sustainable and ethical practices and products. So if you know of anything that might work on this site or have an event you want publicised, please let me know, either through the website or my facebook page.
In the shop you will find all my books, and books by other Australian garden writers that I like and recommend. If you would like a signed copy of one of my books, send me an email after you have purchased the book and let me know the name of the person you want it signed ‘To’. Postage anywhere in Australia is only $3.00 or $5.00 per book (depending on the weight). You can pay for your book by credit card through paypal, or by using a paypal account. The store is only set up for book purchases within Australia, but if you are overseas and really want one of my books, send me an email and we’ll work something out.
The articles are all written by me unless otherwise signed. I hope you find the site interesting and useful. I now have a Facebook page, so if you like the website, it would be great if you could like me on facebook too and follow on Twitter so I can let you know when new articles, reviews and events go up on the site. PW

News

October 27th, 2017

Lemon balm has a delicious sweet lemon flavour.

Tisanes or herb teas have been in vogue in southern Europe since Roman times. The fictional detective Hercule Poirot often needed a tisane after a particularly trying day. Today herb teas are increasing in popularity with the recognition of the harmful effects of too much coffee and ordinary tea. But aren’t herb teas expensive and don’t they taste awful? Not true! Especially if you grow your own, and can experiment with different combinations. Fresh or freshly dried leaves and flowers taste much better than the often musty plant material of questionable content and origin found in shops. Recent research by New York City high school students using simple DNA techniques, found that several herbal teas contain ingredients not listed on the pack. So if you grow and use your own, at least you can be certain about what you are drinking. Continue Reading

November 22nd, 2016

Bean seedlings protected from snails and slugs by a copper collar

Snails, snails and more snails. Our winter and spring have been very wet and as a result snail numbers increased dramatically. In my garden I used to find them in every dark corner and under every leaf. Every time I planted out a seed or seedling the fresh, succulent green leaves would provide supper for a snail. Even quite well established plants were disappearing under the onslaught. I had to do something. Over time I tried every recommended remedy, each with only limited success but finally I came up with a combination of solutions that seems to be keeping the numbers under control and protecting vulnerable plants. These tactics also work for slugs. This is the story of my private war waged, often under cover of darkness, on snails. Continue Reading

September 18th, 2016

When it comes to fruit and vegetables, the most common battleground (for parents and public health experts alike) is getting people to eat them. But there’s a battle over semantics too, because many of the things we call “fruit” and “vegetables” … aren’t.

In botanical terms, a fruit is relatively easy to define. It is the structure that develops from the flower, after it has been fertilised, and which typically contains seeds (although there are exceptions, such as bananas).

But while there is no doubt that tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins are fruits in the botanical sense, any linguist will tell you that language changes and words take on the meaning that people broadly agree upon and use. We live in a linguistic democracy where the majority rules. Continue Reading

February 14th, 2016

The Burren Perfumery herb garden

The Burren Perfumery was one of the highlights of our visit to Ireland last year. Not so much for the lovely creams, perfumes, soaps and more, that they produce. But for the herb garden. The creams are fabulous too (and we bought quite a few) but the herb garden was delightful. We were there in mid-June, so expected a riot of colour, but it had been a very cold wet spring so the colour palette was more muted. This however allowed us to see the beautiful sculptural stone walls and paving as well as the more subtle coloured flowers and the range of greens, greys and browns of the leaves and bark.

September 10th, 2015

Long-leafed coriander also known as culantro

This is another extract from the book I wrote with Pam Vardy, Community Gardens: A Celebration of the People, Recipes and Plants. I am posting these extracts to show how much refugees and immigrants to our country have enhanced our lives. To highlight this I am focusing on unusual individual plants that we would not otherwise have available for our gardens or meals.

Long-leafed coriander (Eryngium foetidum) is also known as culantro. This strong smelling herb comes originally from central and southern America where is has been used for centuries to add flavour to soups and stews. Continue Reading

August 15th, 2015

The Burren, showing clints and grikes

This beautiful wild region of Ireland is unlike anywhere I have seen before. Located in the north-west corner of County Clare on the west coast, even its Irish name boireann signals the topography, as it means ‘place of rocks’. Covering 250 square kilometres, the exposed limestone is in some places up to 780 metres thick. Since being laid down progressively up to 340 million years ago, these great slabs have been gradually worn away in places, mainly by glacier movement, creating ‘grikes’ (the cracks in the limestone) and ‘clints’ (the blocks of limestone left behind). At the same time, the glaciers deposited rounded boulders in random positions, these are known as ‘erratics’ (see the last photo for and example). I love the names! This region is dotted with ancient ruins and tombs as well as being a natural paradise.Continue Reading

May 5th, 2015

Golden and red shallot bulbs can be planted now.

Late Autumn and Winter mean misty moonlit evenings, frosty mornings, rain soaked days. Not the time of year to be planting vegetables you say, and certainly not exotic Asian vegetables or herbs. And you would be right about most of them, but not all. There are some hardy Asian plants that do really well in the cooler months. Don’t forget that although much of Asia hovers around the equator there are some regions that, due to their latitude, height or distance from the sea, experience extreme cold. So plants found growing in these regions are all suitable for planting in a Victorian winter. Continue Reading

January 3rd, 2015

Drumstick allium, Allium sphaerocephalum

Over the last couple of years I have been more than a little preoccupied with one species in the Allium family, namely garlic (Allium sativum). So much so that I have created a website all about this fascinating and beautiful vegetable. You can see it here. There are however beautiful ornamental Alliums that also deserve a place in our gardens. The one that is looking elegant in my garden at present is A. sphaerocephalon or drumstick allium. My garden is pretty low on elegance and high on profusion and confusion so it is a very welcome member. Continue Reading

October 28th, 2014

By Penny Woodward

Shungiku in flower

I was leafing through the book I wrote with Pam Vardy, Community Gardens: A Celebration of the People, Recipes and Plants because I had been thinking about refugees and immigrants and how much they have enhanced our lives. Since the new government has been in power (and to some extent the previous government) the rhetoric has again resembled that of the Howard government and the Tampa. It was the events surrounding Tampa that prompted Pam and myself to get together and combine our skills (hers in interviewing and cooking, and mine in gardening and writing) to produce a book that showcases just a few of the very many ways that people from other cultures and countries have added to our lives and lifestyles in Australia. To highlight this, I thought that from time to time by writing about plants that are in the book, I would focus on unusual individual plants that we would not otherwise have available for our gardens or meals. Continue Reading

September 19th, 2014

An organic guide to knowing, growing and using garlic, from Australian Whites and Tasmanian Purples to Korean Reds and Shandongs.

I am thrilled to say that my new book has been released and is in bookshops and can be purchased online from my website shop . If you would like your copy signed to a specific person, then send me an email through the contact page. I’ll be talking about garlic and the book on radio over the coming weeks and there will be reviews in newspapers and magazines, so keep an eye out for them.

The book has taken me three years to write, but has been much longer in it’s gestation. It covers everything from more than 50 different cultivars of garlic, to guidelines for growing organic garlic around the country as well as interviews with twelve Australian garlic growers telling you how and where they grow their garlic. There are also recipes for cooking, preserving and smoking garlic and even making your own black garlic as well as medicinal uses and an extensive list of growers and suppliers.

This book starts to make sense of the confusion surrounding garlic and explains that garlic is not just garlic, it is Creole, Rocambole, Purple Stripe, Turban, Silverskin and more.

These are a couple of short extracts from the book, starting with Garlic Thoughts Continue Reading